[Federal Register Volume 84, Number 244 (Thursday, December 19, 2019)]
[Notices]
[Pages 69784-69786]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2019-27392]


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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION

[Docket Nos. 52-025 and 52-026; NRC-2008-0252]


Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc. Vogtle Electric 
Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Consolidation of Structural Building 
Inspections, Tests, Analyses, and Acceptance Criteria

AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

ACTION: Exemption and combined license amendment; issuance.

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SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an 
exemption to allow a departure from the certification information of 
Tier 1 of the generic design control document (DCD) and is issuing 
License Amendment No. 167 for Unit 3 and No. 165 for Unit 4 to Combined 
Licenses (COLs), NPF-91 and NPF-92. The COLs were issued to Southern 
Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe 
Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM, LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG 
Power SPVP, LLC, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (collectively SNC); 
for construction and operation of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant 
(VEGP) Units 3 and 4, located in Burke County, Georgia.
    The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 
information asked for in the amendment. Because the acceptability of 
the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the 
amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.

DATES: The exemption and amendment were issued on November 15, 2019.

ADDRESSES: Please refer to Docket ID NRC-2008-0252 when contacting the 
NRC about the availability of information regarding this document. You 
may obtain publicly-available information related to this document 
using any of the following methods:
     Federal Rulemaking Website: Go to http://www.regulations.gov and search for Docket ID NRC-2008-0252. Address 
questions about NRC Docket IDs in Regulations.gov to Jennifer Borges; 
telephone: 301-287-9127; email: [email protected]. For technical 
questions, contact the individual listed in the FOR FURTHER INFORMATION 
CONTACT section of this document.
     NRC's Agencywide Documents Access and Management System 
(ADAMS): You may obtain publicly-available documents online in the 
ADAMS Public Documents collection at https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/

[[Page 69785]]

adams.html. To begin the search, select ``Begin Web-based ADAMS 
Search.'' For problems with ADAMS, please contact the NRC's Public 
Document Room (PDR) reference staff at 1-800-397-4209, 301-415-4737, or 
by email to [email protected]. The ADAMS accession number for each 
document referenced (if it is available in ADAMS) is provided the first 
time that it is mentioned in this document. The request for the 
amendment and exemption was submitted by letter dated March 29, 2019, 
revised by letter dated October 10, 2019, and available in ADAMS under 
Accession No. ML19088A274.
     NRC's PDR: You may examine and purchase copies of public 
documents at the NRC's PDR, Room O1-F21, One White Flint North, 11555 
Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland 20852.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Billy Gleaves, Office of Nuclear 
Reactor Regulation, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Washington, DC 
20555-0001; telephone: 301-415-5848; email: [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Introduction

    The NRC is issuing VEGP Units 3 and 4 License Amendment Nos. 167 
and 165 to COLs NPF 91 and NPF-92 and is granting an exemption from 
Tier 1 information in the generic DCD for the AP1000 design. The AP1000 
design is incorporated by reference in appendix D, ``Design 
Certification Rule for the AP1000,'' to part 52 of title 10 of the Code 
of Federal Regulations (10 CFR). The exemption, granted pursuant to 
Paragraph A.4 of Section VIII, ``Processes for Changes and 
Departures,'' of 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, allows the licensee to 
depart from the Tier 1 information. With the requested amendment, SNC 
sought proposed changes that would revise the COLs to address certain 
duplicative building- and structure-related Inspections, Tests, 
Analyses, and Acceptance Criteria (ITAAC) and to include certain as-
built thickness deviations in the reconciliation and thickness reports 
described in ITAAC acceptance criteria of the VEGP Units 3 and 4 COL 
Appendix C (and plant-specific Tier 1 information). The requested 
amendment proposes changes in the form of departures from the current 
VEGP Units 3 and 4 to plant-specific Tier 1 and corresponding changes 
to COL Appendix C.
    Part of the justification for granting the exemption was provided 
by the review of the amendment. Because the exemption is necessary in 
order to issue the requested license amendment, the NRC granted the 
exemption and issued the amendment concurrently, rather than in 
sequence. This included issuing a combined safety evaluation containing 
the NRC staff's review of both the exemption request and the license 
amendment. The exemption met all applicable regulatory criteria set 
forth in Sec. Sec.  50.12, 52.7, and section VIII.A.4 of appendix D to 
10 CFR part 52. The license amendment was found to be acceptable as 
well. The safety evaluation is available in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML19164A271.
    Identical exemption documents (except for referenced unit numbers 
and license numbers) were issued to SNC for VEGP Units 3 and 4 (COLs 
NPF-91 and NPF-92). The exemption documents for VEGP Units 3 and 4 can 
be found in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML19164A265 and ML19164A266, 
respectively. The exemption is reproduced (with the exception of 
abbreviated titles and additional citations) in Section II of this 
document. The amendment documents for COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92 are 
available in ADAMS under Accession Nos. ML19164A267 and ML19164A269, 
respectively. A summary of the amendment documents is provided in 
Section III of this document.

II. Exemption

    Reproduced below is the exemption document issued to VEGP Units 3 
and 4. It makes reference to the combined safety evaluation that 
provides the reasoning for the findings made by the NRC (and listed 
under Item 1) in order to grant the exemption:
    1. In an application dated March 29, 2019, revised October 10, 
2019, SNC requested from the Commission an exemption to allow 
departures from Tier 1 information in the certified DCD incorporated by 
reference in 10 CFR part 52, appendix D, as part of license amendment 
request 19-005, ``Consolidation of Structural Building ITAAC.''
    For the reasons set forth in Section 3.2 of the NRC staff's Safety 
Evaluation, which can be found in ADAMS under Accession No. 
ML19164A271, the Commission finds that:
    A. The exemption is authorized by law;
    B. the exemption presents no undue risk to public health and 
safety;
    C. the exemption is consistent with the common defense and 
security;
    D. special circumstances are present in that the application of the 
rule in this circumstance is not necessary to serve the underlying 
purpose of the rule;
    E. the special circumstances outweigh any decrease in safety that 
may result from the reduction in standardization caused by the 
exemption; and
    F. the exemption will not result in a significant decrease in the 
level of safety otherwise provided by the design.
    2. Accordingly, the licensee is granted an exemption from the 
certified DCD Tier 1 information as described in the licensee's request 
dated March 29, 2019, revised October 10, 2019. This exemption is 
related to, and necessary for the granting of License Amendment No. 167 
[for Unit 3 and No. 165 for Unit 4] which is being issued concurrently 
with this exemption.
    3. As explained in Section 3.2 of the NRC staff's Safety Evaluation 
(ADAMS Accession No. ML19164A271), this exemption meets the eligibility 
criteria for categorical exclusion set forth in 10 CFR 51.22(c)(9). 
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact 
statement or environmental assessment needs to be prepared in 
connection with the issuance of the exemption.
    4. This exemption is effective as of the date of its issuance.

III. License Amendment Request

    By letter dated March 29, 2019, revised October 10, 2019 (ADAMS 
Accession Nos. ML19088A274 and ML19284C424), SNC requested that the NRC 
amend the COLs for VEGP, Units 3 and 4, COLs NPF-91 and NPF-92. The 
proposed amendment is described in Section I of this Federal Register 
notice.
    The Commission has determined for these amendments that the 
application complies with the standards and requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954, as amended (the Act), and the Commission's rules 
and regulations. The Commission has made appropriate findings as 
required by the Act and the Commission's rules and regulations in 10 
CFR chapter I, which are set forth in the license amendment.
    A notice of consideration of issuance of amendment to facility 
operating license or COL, as applicable, proposed no significant 
hazards consideration determination, and opportunity for a hearing in 
connection with these actions, was published in the Federal Register on 
May 20, 2019 (84 FR 22907). No comments were received during the 30-day 
comment period.
    The Commission has determined that these amendments satisfy the 
criteria for categorical exclusion in accordance with 10 CFR 51.22. 
Therefore, pursuant to 10 CFR 51.22(b), no environmental impact 
statement or environmental assessment need be prepared for these 
amendments.

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IV. Conclusion

    Using the reasons set forth in the safety evaluation, the staff 
granted the exemption and issued the amendment that SNC requested on 
March 29, 2019 and revised October 10, 2019.
    The exemption and amendment were issued to SNC on November 15, 
2019, as part of a combined package (ADAMS Package Accession No. 
ML19164A263).

    Dated at Rockville, Maryland, this 16th day of December 2019.

    For the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Victor E. Hall,
Branch Chief, Vogtle Project Office, Office of Nuclear Reactor 
Regulation.
[FR Doc. 2019-27392 Filed 12-18-19; 8:45 am]
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